SYOSSET, N.Y. -- He took a skate blade to the wrist after three games and a few shifts, and Kirill Kabanov never really got his rookie season going once he came back in the new year.

This year isn't exactly a fresh start, Kabanov said Tuesday at Iceworks at New York Islanders training camp, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what to call it, either.

He just knows what he wants to do when he begins the season, most likely, with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Oct. 5.

"I need to earn my spot on the team, my spot on the power play," Kabanov said, "my spot to be able to play 20 minutes a game, not just 9-12.

"I need to earn the coaches' respect. Most important, I need to be a leader."

How does he plan to do that?

"I need to score goals," Kabanov said. "I need to help the team, score goals on the power play, make nice moves, make sure my game is on the right page."

Kabanov, 21, showed flashes of the skill that made him a prospect. It wasn't there every night, and injuries and illness slowed him all year, beginning with the accidental spill in Worcester on Oct. 26. The gash to his left wrist required emergency surgery and kept him out until late January.

He finished with just two goals and seven assists in 32 games for Bridgeport. He went home disappointed, but he says he returned mentally ready for a big year.

He also got help physically over the summer as well: Kabanov and defenseman Andrey Pedan went to a camp with former NHL standout Gary Roberts.

"It was pretty cool," Kabanov said. "I spent a good summer in Toronto; I came there the 21st of May. ¦ I didn't do anything other than prepare for the season."

The camp included NHL standouts like Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos and Pittsburgh's James Neal; their group included prospects like Winnipeg's Mark Schiefele.

"It was a great group of guys, a great experience, getting stronger, better," Pedan said.

Kabanov and Pedan were part of a group of 25 players in Islanders camp who skated at Syosset; another group of 26, including most of the NHL regulars (except Joe Finley and Radek Martinek, the latter of whom is on a tryout contract), went at Nassau Coliseum.

Sound Tigers coach Scott Pellerin, who ran practice in Syosset on Tuesday, paused at one point to point out what he called a good Kabanov question about stick positioning.

"Kabby's made some strides," Pellerin said.

"Kabby's not afraid to ask the right questions. He wants to get better. He wants to learn."

Another group of 11 players skated at Iceworks after the first group. That was the first official practice of Sound Tigers training camp. That group includes six tryouts and five players on AHL contracts.